


Careful and Confused

by CaptainErica



Category: Big Bang (Band), K-pop
Genre: BaeRi, M/M, bae isn't dismissive just careful, misunderstandings galore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 20:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16583132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainErica/pseuds/CaptainErica
Summary: Youngbae doesn't know why it annoys him so much that /he's/ speaking, but it's probably because it's not /to him/.





	Careful and Confused

 

Youngbae is starting to believe that he has a problem. He can’t quite put his finger on what it is just yet, but he’s hopeful that he will soon.

On Monday, he wakes up early, does his stretches, gets ready, and answers a call that leaves him pinching the bridge of his nose and agreeing to leave immediately. It’s nothing big, never is, it’s just… annoying. Maybe that’s what his problem is, he’s been getting annoyed a lot recently, maybe he needs to just… chill.

Later in the day, however, he becomes convinced that he will never be able to _chill_. It’s something about how everyone is interacting with each other, in how they were talking to each other, in how they were rough-housing in how…

He has a headache when he gets home, feels a little miserable in general, but doesn’t know how to fix it so he works out and then goes to bed.

The next day he’s in the studio, sitting beside Jiyong, everyone else behind them near the couch.

Youngbae has his head in his hands, covering his eyes, fingers pushed into his hair. “Does he ever stop talking?” He asks, and Jiyong snorts out a laugh, pen still tapping every so often against the table.

“No, you know that.” He says, shifting a little before starting to write again, a little fevered. Jiyong doesn’t seem to think that anything is amiss, however, doesn’t seem to think that anything is _wrong_ with Youngbae.

Youngbae pulls in a breath, lets it out slow, squeezes his eyes shut… It doesn’t really help, but he pretends that it does so he can get back to his work.

Three days later, in the dance studio, and Youngbae has his eyes closed, head pressed back against the wall, knees drawn up. The chatter was driving him insane, and he couldn’t understand it because it wasn’t like it was too much, and it wasn’t like everyone upset him, it was just that one voice that just…

It ground into his brain, bore into him until he couldn’t hear anything _but_ his voice. It was all he could hear and he’s picked it apart now: he’s strangely upset that he isn’t talking to _him._

He’s upset that _Seungri_ is incessantly pestering literally everyone but him, has been for 2 weeks now, and really, he considers as his eyebrows raise of their own accord as he tilts his head forward to look down at the floor; really that’s when his _problem_ started. That’s when he started feeling weird and wrong and _annoyed._

It started when Seungri stopped talking to him. All of this had started after a couple of days of Seungri ignoring him in favor of everyone else. It’s stupid, Youngbae decides, right there, and then he’s interrupted because Jiyong wants them to get up and try the choreography again so he has to get up and ignore this new awareness; the knowledge that Seungri was purposefully steering clear of him.

On Monday he’s having lunch with Jiyong, some place far out of the way and very private, and he’s had the weekend (more work, so was it really a _weekend?_ ) to think over everything and Seungri was _definitely_ ignoring him. They’re sitting quietly as they wait for the food to come, Youngbae looking at something that Jiyong had handed him when they sat down, and Jiyong fidgeting (that kind of reaction he has when he is proud of his work and wants you to be as well)

“Why is Seungri pretending I don’t exist?” He asks after a moment, and Jiyong stops picking at his nails for the moment, looking up at Youngbae with large eyes as he tries to figure out what to say.

“Why do _you_ think he’s doing that?” Jiyong responds, and even though that’s a clear indication that Jiyong has literally no idea and probably hadn’t even noticed. It could also be that Jiyong had expected some kind of response to what Youngbae is holding but…

Youngbae swallows, shakes his head, “Have you noticed that he’s… he hasn’t spoken to me in 2 weeks.” He says, and he sets the notebook down, apologizing softly, but Jiyong brushes that away with an impatient wave of his hand.

“No, yes? A little.” Jiyong says, then shakes his head and sighs before sitting back. “Yes, he’s been a little strange lately, no I didn’t really notice he wasn’t talking to you until you just said that.”

Youngbae wrinkles his nose, looks down at the notebook, then back up with a look like he’s going to say something, but then their food is brought and he has to be quiet for the moment, watching the food be set out, thanking the server, and then he sighs. “I don’t know why, but it’s bothering me a lot.” He says.

Jiyong raises an eyebrow at him, shakes his head, and then plucks something up from the center of the table to eat. “You were annoyed by him speaking _at all_ this whole week.” He says around his bite.

Youngbae makes a soft sound, sits up a little and takes his chopsticks, ready to try and eat. “No, yes, I… It’s because he wasn’t… it was because he wasn’t talking to _me._ ” He says, and Jiyong is quiet for all of a second, frozen as well, before he bursts into laughter and has to cover his mouth to hold it back.

“That’s insane, Bae.” He says, but his eyes are dancing with amusement as well as a little bit of pity. “I’ll see if I can find out what’s going on with him, yeah? Now, tell me what you think about that.” He says, reassuring and changing the subject.

It’s probably for the best, Youngbae thinks, he shouldn’t dwell. It was probably nothing, and Jiyong would tell him in a week or so that it wasn’t and everything would be fine.

On Wednesday Jiyong texts him from up in the studio while he’s changing after the gym. ‘hey, do you remember the club we went to like, almost 3 weeks ago now?’ he asks, and Youngbae does, vaguely, so he agrees. ‘ah, yeah, well…’ there’s a pause and Youngbae watches his screen, wondering what Jiyong will say next. ‘that’s why Seungri is avoiding you.’ He says, and then nothing more, and Youngbae waits a few moments for Jiyong to add more before texting back ‘what did I do?’ but Jiyong doesn’t answer, and now he’s very confused and concerned.

How did he upset Seungri at the club? It had been a late night, lots of drinks… they’d all be talking and laughing, Seungri had come in late… he can’t for the life of him think of why Seungri would decide not to talk to him after that night.

It’s while he’s in the shower that night that it comes to him, and then deserts him because it seems really self-important and ridiculous of him to think this way but…

“Is it because we were talking about dating?” He asks Jiyong. It’s late, and he probably should have started the call with a ‘hello’ but they’ve known each other long enough that he doesn’t _really_ care.

“We always talk about dating.” Jiyong says, and Youngbae can hear him stifling a yawn.

“No, I mean, the part where Daesung asked… well and I said I wouldn’t date Seungri.” He says, which had been a lie, Jiyong knew that, but he couldn’t say it in _front_ of Seungri, they have a weird relationship already.

Jiyong is quiet, and Youngbae almost cuts in and says he knew he had just been being ridiculous and maybe it was this _other_ moment, but Jiyong responds then. “Could be part of it.” He says, almost noncommittal, like he’s trying to stay true to a promise he made to Seungri but also can’t lie to Youngbae.

“But why would that upset him? We’ve, you said you wouldn’t date him in the _same_ conversation.” He says, and Jiyong makes a little sound, but doesn’t comment. “He, it’s not like, I mean he always chooses _you_ if anyone asks him that question, so I don’t, I don’t understand.” Can’t, refuses to, doesn’t know how to, he’s not sure right now.

Jiyong sighs, soft and a little put upon. “I mean, you know he doesn’t mean it when he says it.” And Youngbae does, but it had never stopped it hurting that Seungri preferred Jiyong to him. “But I mean, ah, you guys have to work this out yourselves, I can’t have him ignoring you any longer, all of our practices are going to shit because of it, so.” He says, leaving it there, and Youngbae knows what he means so he sighs.

“Yeah, I’ll… I’ll figure it out.” He says, a little dejected (had wanted _help_ ), but he can’t expect Jiyong to do everything, and if he had wanted more help he should have worked harder to have more friends to get help _from._

Jiyong makes a sound, “No, listen, I mean… You should, but I just, you can’t put it off, you know? That’s what I mean, I’m just surprised you didn’t corner him before now to get him to talk to you, it’s not like you.” He adds, and Youngbae doesn’t have a good answer for that, because Jiyong already knows the answer: he’d been offended and deeply hurt and also maybe a little embarrassed.

Because, at first, what if Seungri wasn’t avoiding him? It took him an entire 2 weeks to really notice so what if it was just that they hadn’t spoken or needed to speak. But then… then it really was more than that and he knew that and somehow he knew he couldn’t just force Seungri to talk to him again.

Youngbae tries to corner Seungri after dance practice the next day but he’s too quick and too loud, and Youngbae just lets him go after very little effort because it still stings to be ignored right to your face. He tries again a few hours later to the same effect, and he’s probably going to lose his temper at this point, because he’s feeling very hurt by this, by the way he’s being treated and maybe he said that _one thing_ but why does Seungri care so much? They’d all been teasing, and he was _still talking to Jiyong who had said the exact same thing._

He sighs, knocks his head against the wall, waves Daesung off when he asks if he’s okay, and then just sits there with his eyes closed, waiting for the room to empty so he can think again and try to come up with a way to convince Seungri to talk to him.

He misses, because his eyes are closed, the way Seungri hesitates, biting his lip as he looks at Youngbae. He misses Seungri hesitate and consider coming over before steeling himself and turning to walk out with Jiyong rolling his eyes behind him. “You not leaving?” Jiyong asks, and Youngbae shakes his head. “Don’t stay too late.” He says, a little quieter, and he nods, and misses the worried look Seungri sends to Jiyong. Jiyong ignores the look because he’s not going to indulge in this.

Youngbae lets himself wallow a little longer, then pulls his phone out and texts Seungri, just Seungri. This will probably just end up being further proof that Seungri is ignoring him, but he has to make some sort of move because maybe Seungri feels like Youngbae is _ok_ with being ignored, and he really, really isn’t.

‘Hey, come over for dinner?’ he asks, then waits a moment, decides he hates that idea because maybe Seungri would want a way to escape. ‘Or we could go out, I don’t know what I have for food.’ And that’s nice and open; he has plenty of food at his place.

There’s no response for a good ten minutes, so Youngbae allows himself a rather large pout, and then stands up and gets his stuff ready so he can leave (it’s on _read_ now). He stares at his phone for a moment, willing a response, but then sighs at himself and leaves to head for his car. Maybe Seungri will answer him in a moment, he’s probably busy; he rarely had time for them anyway so he wouldn’t be surprised, and shouldn’t be hurt, if he says he can’t…

‘Sorry, I’m busy tonight.’ Is the response he receives as he’s waiting at a traffic light, and his stomach drops but he’d expected it, so he can’t really let himself be too upset.

‘Maybe next time, then…’ he sends, but he doesn’t get a response to that one.

He’s in a bit of a mood the next day, hoodie on and hood pulled up over his head, face obscured by a mask, eyes tired. He doesn’t talk to anyone, just nods when asked questions or told to do something, and it’s just because he’s been overthinking all of this, doesn’t know what to do so he’s fallen into his own head for the time being, not ready to come out until he has a proper solution to his situation.

He’s in no fit state to ask Seungri to talk to him today, so he doesn’t, and saves it for the next day after a rigorous work out and hot shower. He heads up to the studio, flipping his phone between his fingers, and silently asks Jiyong to leave. Jiyong gets the hint, ushers Daesung out, and shuts the door behind them. It’s maybe a huge departure from his mood yesterday, but he’s gotta push through this, and he needs to just _do it_ because if Seungri is upset with him, he won’t say anything without being pushed.

“Seungri.” He says, stopping beside him. It startles Seungri, his headphones falling half off his ears. His eyes dart around the room, noting that everyone is gone. “No, please don’t.” Youngbae adds, and Seungri pauses in the act of getting up and grabbing his bag to leave.

“Where is everyone?” He asks, wary, hand still on the handle of his bag.

Youngbae pulls in a breath, shakes his head. “They’ll be back soon.” He says, and he feels really good after just those three words. “I wanted to talk to you while they were gone, though.” He adds, and Seungri looks away, fingers fidgeting with the handle.

“What about?” He asks, and it’s a little stiff, so Youngbae shakes his head, moving so Seungri has to look at him or the floor.

“Hey, if you’re upset with me, I want… you should tell me, yeah? I can’t be better if I don’t know what I did wrong.” He says, and Seungri looks up at him sharply, a little surprised, a little annoyed.

“You didn’t even notice I wasn’t talking to you for like, what, weeks?” Seungri says, a little rude, a little bitter. “So it didn’t seem worth it.”

Youngbae’s lips part, then close a little sharply, uncertain again. “I noticed.” He says, and Seungri rolls his eyes, sitting back.

“Yeah, and then Jiyong asked why I was being mean, I know.” He says, and Youngbae shakes his head.

“No, I asked Jiyong if he had _also_ noticed, because I had started to think I was maybe making it up since no one else seemed to have noticed.” He says, frowning, doesn’t like this attitude, isn’t certain where it is coming from, can’t really understand.

“Right.” Seungri says with that same bitter tone, and then he sighs and shakes his head. “Sorry, it’s…” He doesn’t finish, just shakes his head at himself.

Youngbae bites his lip, realizes his arms have come up to cross over his chest and he relaxes, letting them down. “I just want to know what I did, how I can make it better. If I did something… I want to fix it.” He says, hates being… hates not really knowing, just guessing what made someone upset.

Seungri shakes his head. “Nothing, Hyung, I was just being… sensitive.” He says, and Youngbae opens his mouth to say something but Seungri gives him a look that makes him close it again. “It’s alright.” He says, but Youngbae doesn’t think it really is.

He knows it was what he’d said, _knows it._ But if he can’t get Seungri to confirm, he can’t apologize, it would be weird, right? ‘Sorry I said I wouldn’t date you?’ it sounds like he’s making it a bigger deal than it is, it’s not like any of them would actually date any of them (you know that is not the truth, are you pretending you don’t exist now?).

It’s not better the next day, but at least Seungri doesn’t look away from him when he’s talking to the group or even to him. He doesn’t go out of his way to speak in any way where Youngbae could answer, but at least he’s not completely avoiding him any longer.

By the end of this week, however, Youngbae is somehow even _more_ miserable than he was over the last 3 weeks. “I tried to talk to him, and it didn’t work.” He says, and Daesung makes a sound mid-push-up, but doesn’t comment (hates how Youngbae can talk while doing push-ups). “He still barely looks at me, am I supposed to just, I’m going to have to just say it, aren’t I, apologize to him for saying I wouldn’t date him.”

“Well, it was a lie, so probably the best thing to do.” Jiyong says, sitting down in front of them both and saving Daesung from having to speak.

Youngbae reaches out to hit him on his way up, almost unbalancing himself before he gets to the top of the pushup, but saving it and managing to hit Jiyong at the same time. “You’re not very helpful.” He says, ignoring how Daesung is laughing from the top of his push-up.

Jiyong shrugs, sitting back casually, hands holding him up from behind. “You never really asked for my help, but if what you want to do is tell him you actually _do_ want to date him, but were just trying not to make it obvious because you were drunk, then that’s a good idea, and I support you.”

Youngbae makes a face, ignores him for a few moments to do a few more push-ups, Daesung holding himself up, considering them both. “Jiyong’s right. It’ll probably make Seungri stop… whatever he’s trying to do, if you just come clean.” He says, then his pulls back to sit on his knees, shaking his hair out of his face. “He’s been trying to convince himself that you don’t care if you even talk to him, that’s why he’s doing this.” He says, and Youngbae lets himself drop to the ground, pressing his forehead to the mat.

“That’s ridiculous.” He mutters, “Seungri… Jiyong said the same thing I did, but he’s still all over _him._ ” He says, a little bitter, a little muffled.

Jiyong rolls his eyes. “He doesn’t care what _I_ think.” He says, simple and matter of fact, and Youngbae is just going to go and stand in the shower until this is all over with.

“Fine.” He mutters, pushing himself up and leaving them there (probably to talk about him).

He doesn’t get a chance to talk to Seungri again until they’re getting dressed to leave a rehearsal a few days later (agonizing days), but he makes sure he can talk to him today. “Seungri.” He says, so, so sick of being ignored by Seungri, _so, so sick of it._

“Hey.” Seungri says, then seems to realize it’s Youngbae and his eyes go a little wide and he shifts back in his seat like he’s reprimanding himself internally for not paying more attention. “What do you need?” He asks, which almost makes Youngbae’s resolve shatter.

He takes a chair, flips it around so the back is facing Seungri, and sits down like that, straddling it, looking at Seungri. “You’re still upset with me.” He says, and then holds up a hand when Seungri opens his mouth. “and you don’t think it’s worth telling me why, yeah I know.” He says, then sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “I just wanted to tell you, that… If this is about what I said, at the club, when Daesung asked if I would date you if given the chance? Yeah, I want you to know that I only said no because I was worried you would guess that I actually meant it if I said yes.”

It’s quiet the moment he finishes speaking, like the world has paused, but then the sound comes back and Seungri hasn’t responded so Youngbae just nods and stands, turning the chair back to where it had been. He claps Seungri on the shoulder as he walks by, and he doesn’t know what he’s expecting, but the hand grabbing his wrist really wasn’t it.

“Hyung.” Seungri says, and Youngbae stops walking, waiting there for him. “I didn’t mean to…” He trails off, hand going lax around his wrist, so Youngbae pulls it away.

“Yeah, you did.” He says, and Seungri _had_ meant to punish him, that was the point of this, of him not talking to him, for him to feel _hurt_ like Seungri had felt, presumably. But it’s not like Seungri knew how hurt Youngbae felt all of the time, so how could he have known this time? He pulls away and catches up with Seunghyun to get into a car with him to head back home.

Youngbae had always tried to hide how much he didn’t like it that Seungri kind of pushed himself into/onto Jiyong. He hated it, felt kind of left out. He brought it up from time to time, but no one really took it seriously. It came up on tv shows and in interviews, probably not the best times to take him seriously, but also they were the best times for him to _say_ them, because he couldn’t get in trouble, and Seungri never seemed to realize he actually meant it.

That’s where the other part of the hurt came in. The ‘you only say this on camera’ type of reaction. But what is he supposed to say off camera? When they were sitting in the studio Seungri didn’t hang off of Jiyong, it was only when they were _on camera_. Or it was the worst then.

It takes Youngbae a while to fall asleep that night, tossing and turning, thinking these things over, thinking over the way he treats Seungri, the way he feels, the way it comes out. He can’t _fix it_ though, because Seungri makes him a little crazy and Seungri barely notices or cares. Until, of course, he takes one thing said off camera to heart… but why, why didn’t he care what _Jiyong_ had said?

“Seungri won’t stop moping, what did you _say?_ ” Jiyong asks over breakfast two days later, and Youngbae shrugs, trying not to think about any of it, but clearly he won’t be allowed to ignore this question.

“I told him what I said I would: I only said no because if I’d said yes he might have known I meant it.” He says, and then shrugs again. “He was surprised, tried to say he hadn’t meant to make me feel bad or whatever, it doesn’t really matter, he still isn’t speaking to me, clearly.” It hadn’t worked, apparently. Telling Seungri the truth hadn’t stopped Seungri from not wanting to talk to him, just made him go to Jiyong even _more._

“Almost unfair, and only almost because he clearly hasn’t spoken to you.” Jiyong says, picking at his fruit bowl. “He’s agonizing because he thinks, for some reason, that he should have _known_ you liked him, too. There’s no way he could have, however, because I was guessing since you wouldn’t tell me, and you’re extremely difficult to read sometimes.”

Youngbae makes a sound, offended, “I didn’t tell _you_ because you would have told him.” He says, and Jiyong makes an offended sound right back at him, but Youngbae ignores it. “Doesn’t mean he can’t talk to me. If he’s upset he didn’t _know,_ he can ask me why I kept it to myself.” He says, and Jiyong just kind of looks at him like he’s an idiot but doesn’t say that out loud.

Seungri corners him two days later, hadn’t had the chance to the day before, but the dance studio was always a good place to corner someone so it worked out for him. Youngbae doesn’t even notice he’s been cornered until he turns around, halfway through asking an absent Jiyong if he’s seen his water bottle, and notices that the room is empty except for Seungri.

“Oh, hey, have _you_ seen my water bottle? I bet Seunghyun took it.” He says, looking down again. He was trying to act like everything was normal, because then maybe Seungri would feel comfortable with him again, not… who knows how Seungri felt about everything.

Seungri shakes his head, but Youngbae had already looked away so he misses it. “Hyung, you said you wanted to date me.” He says, and Youngbae kind of pauses a moment, then shifts and stands up this time as he turns to look at him.

“Yeah, I did.” He says, dusting off his hands, unsure what Seungri might want out of this conversation.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Seungri asks, and Youngbae tilts his head, confused.

“Why would I?” and even the thought of doing so is ridiculous to him. “You’ve been almost up Jiyong’s ass for the past 5 years, almost stopped talking to me altogether unless you needed something or I was pushing you to interact with me.” He says, frowning, arms moving like they want to cross, but he doesn’t want to do that now.

Seungri frowns, uncertainty crossing his face, “That’s not true.” He says, but it is, and he knows it. “You’re… you tease me, how was I supposed to know you, you liked me.”

Youngbae shrugs, “I wasn’t expecting you to figure it out, Seungri, I didn’t ever tell Jiyong for a reason.” He sighs, shifts a little, lets himself relax a bit more. “If you were going to find out, I wanted to be the one that told you, not Jiyong, especially not _Jiyong._ ” He shakes his head. “But what I want to know, if you’ll tell me, is why you were ignoring me in the first place. It can’t have been that stupid question.” He says, even though he had built it up to be that question, with no other reason except Jiyong had allowed him to think that and hadn’t corrected him.

Seungri shifts a little, foot to foot, then stops and steps a little closer, biting his lip. “It was, I wanted to see if you would notice that I stopped.” He says, quiet. “I wanted to prove to myself that you really _didn’t_ care, but then you were so upset the whole time… I was surprised, and then I was bitter that you hadn’t tried to ask me, even though I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t do it like that, not yet.” It’s Seungri’s turn to sigh this time, big and frustrated and pulling out all of his annoyance with himself and Youngbae.

“Of course I noticed.” Youngbae says, and he’s a little surprised that Seungri had noticed his mood dipping so quickly, when it had taken him so long to figure out why on his own. “But it’s alright, I’m not upset with you or anything, I rarely am.” He says, and then leans down to pick up his bag. “Come on, Jiyong will throw a fit if we aren’t upstairs soon.”

Seungri seems floored by this, turning to watch him and he gets his voice back just as Youngbae makes it to the door. “Just like that? You’re okay with just, just telling me you like me and walking away? You don’t want anything?”

Youngbae turns to look at him, confused, doesn’t quite understand that, but honesty is a policy he’s pretty enamored with, so he pulls in a breath, lets it out. “Yeah, I’m okay with that.” He says, “Because I can’t make you like me back, Seungri, and I’m not stupid enough to try and force you to confirm something that you’re not going to willingly give out.” He almost shrugs here, but holds it back because this isn’t ‘no big deal’. “And if I’m honest, Seungri, I’ve never expected you to like me back.” He says, “I’ll live with that. I have to. Now come on.” He says, moving to turn again, but Seungri stamps his foot.

“No one said I didn’t like you.” Seungri says, very serious, and Youngbae almost wins the battle against his mouth, _almost._

“No one said you did.”

And then he turns and opens the door, holding it for Seungri but ultimately letting it swing shut because Seungri takes too long to follow. He never expected Seungri to like him, so it’s cruel to make himself stand there and wait for it, rude to make himself stand there and expect it from Seungri.

But why the test, then, if Seungri didn’t _like_ him? Why would he play this game if not because he liked him back? Youngbae drops his bag on the floor, settles into his seat beside Jiyong, and makes himself stop thinking about it.

The door opens again a few moments later, and Jiyong’s got a look on his face like he’s hoping for something, some news, but Youngbae just shrugs very slightly, and continues with his work.

“What do I have to do?” Jiyong asks that night, and Youngbae blinks up at him, confused and uncertain what he means. “You two, you’re killing me. You told him you like him, I know you did, but… nothing? Nothing is going on, no further updates to provide me with?”

Youngbae shakes his head. “No, that’s basically it.” He says, “he was surprised, I guess, that I wasn’t… like asking him to date me or something? But would you have? After being ignored for weeks and then finding out it was just to prove to himself that you didn’t like him at all? It’s not really a very good time to be like: hey, so do you like me back? Or were you punishing me for the hell of it so I should really figure out why I want this still?”

Jiyong clenches his teeth a bit, then sighs, dropping his hands to his sides, giving up. “Yeah, it doesn’t sound like a good time when you describe it like _that._ ” Jiyong says, and Youngbae tilts his head, eyes open, ready for a different examination of the situation. “He was just, he was hurt because he likes you.” And then he squeezes his eyes shut. “Don’t say it, I know, I _know._ It’s not like him to not just tell you that, especially since you told him. It looks bad, but it’s, I promise it’s not as bad as the way you’re looking at it.”

Seungri sulks for the next week, but at least he’s responsive, talkative, doesn’t outright ignore Youngbae. He’s not sure what to do, though, if this is his fault again or if Seungri will snap out of it on his own. Well, he’s sure it’s his fault, he’s just not sure if he can fix it. Had Seungri wanted him to ask him out? Why would he do that when he’s had no indication except this prolonged pout that Seungri might like him back? He’d had an opportunity to say he liked Youngbae, and he hadn’t taken it so…

“Do you still like me?” Seungri asks, surprising Youngbae in the changing room of the gym, “And not like, I mean like _like_ me, like you want to date me.” He says, clarifying, which is probably good because Youngbae’s a smart ass when he’s surprised.

“Yeah.” He says, licking his lips, feeling caught and uncertain. “At this point I think it would take more than just a couple weeks to stop.” He adds, forcing himself to look Seungri in the eye as he talks.

Seungri shifts a little, nods, fidgety. “Good, because I like you and I want you to want to date me.” He says, and Youngbae makes a little face.

“But you don’t want to date me?” He asks, clarification (also he’s an ass).

Seungri makes a face, almost whines, “Yes, no, I _do_ want to, that’s what I said.” He says, then makes an annoyed sound. “You make everything so difficult.” He adds, and Youngbae’s lips twitch.

“Well, I promise it’s only because I’ve spent years thinking you liked Jiyong, and not because I don’t like you.” He says, and Seungri wrinkles his nose, shakes his head.

“You’re blind, hyung.” He says, shaking his head, almost sad. “and stupid if you think I’d put up with _him.”_ He says, as if Youngbae’s incessant teasing was somehow preferable to Jiyong’s looks of annoyed fondness.

Youngbae shrugs, “He’s not so bad…”

“No.”

“Alright, he’s definitely no _me._ ” Youngbae says, a teasing smile slipping over his lips, and it’s answered by a similar one on Seungri’s.

“So, gonna take me to dinner? You’re treat?” Seungri asks, stepping a little closer, and Youngbae’s surprised into a laugh, before he pulls in a breath and shakes his head, amused and fond.

“Yeah, I guess so.” He says, and Seungri grins at him, pleased.


End file.
